How to Be the Most Interesting Person in the World!
You may have heard of him or heard stories about him – most everyone has. Like the time he made a weeping willow laugh. Or the time that he taught an old dog new tricks. Perhaps you have heard that when he drives a car off the lot, it increases in price! Maybe you are fascinated by the fact that he never wears a watch because time is ALWAYS on his side. Or that when he goes to Spain, the bulls chase him and when he goes to Rome, they do as HE does! You are amazed at how his shirts never wrinkle and how he always seems to have inside jokes…with complete strangers.
If you have seen any of the Dos Equis commercials on TV, you will know that I am talking about none other than…the ‘Most Interesting Man in the World!’ While most of us are unable to lay claim to most of the things that make him interesting, there are techniques that we can use to be a more interesting person – which is the subject of this blog post.
Before we get to the techniques to make you a more interesting person, let’s briefly explore…
Why It Is Important to Be Interesting…
There are many reasons to be an interesting person, such as people will want to be around you, they will want to seek your company and they will want to talk to you. I think we can all agree that interesting people fascinate us, they entertain us, they pique our curiosity, and we learn stuff from them!
Who wouldn’t want to talk to the most interesting man in the world? I know I sure would!
There are some of you who may think that there is just no way you can become a more interesting person on demand. You think you are who you are, and you just aren’t that interesting. Well, I am here to be a little bit in your face and to tell you that it is in fact not only possible, but it is probable!
In this post, I am going to again reference the work of the great creative thinker Edward De Bono to show you some simple…
Techniques That You Can You Use to Be a More Interesting Person!
The first technique is not really a technique per se, it simply has to do with…
Things, Places and Work
As in cool things you have done in your life, interesting places you have visited, and fascinating work you are engaged in. Some people have had a lot of cool life experiences that they are able to talk about which makes them interesting.
For example, about 10 years ago I was flying back to Miami from New York City. We were already well into the state of Florida when the pilot came on and said that he would have a surprise for us in roughly 15 minutes.
More on that surprise in a bit.
Now, for those of you who have a hard time drawing on interesting life experiences, worry not! We have a bunch more techniques that you can leverage to be a more interesting person, the first one being what De Bono calls…
The First Rule
Which is simply being able to talk about what you are good at or what interests you – which could be anything from a special skill you have, to a job, to a hobby of yours.
For example, our good friend Dave writes for historical journals and is known as the go-to guy on World’s Fairs and Expositions – which is something interesting he can talk about.
The only caveat with using the first rule is that you will have two audiences that you will need to cater to differently. The first are those who know nothing about the subject, which means you will need to present it to them in an interesting manner. The second are those who know something about the subject and want to know more, which means you will need to invite and answer their questions.
The next technique you can use is one that is called…
Information
Or unusual knowledge that you have accumulated by reading books/magazines/papers, watching documentaries, listening to podcasts etc.
By the way, did you know that putting an envelope in the freezer for an hour will unseal it?!?! I will assume you are not going to use this newfound information for any nefarious endeavors!!!
Are you into games? Great! Because another technique De Bono recommends for being a more interesting person is to play a little game that you may be familiar with which is known as…
The ‘What-If’ Game
Which simply consists of coming up with ‘what-if’ scenarios such as ‘what if dogs could speak?’. This could lead you down the path to such interesting questions such as – could dogs could then report their owners for illegal behaviors? would they talk back to their owners?
The idea is to turn the simplest of situations into a game and since they would occur in the future, there is no way to check which would happen and which would not.
While the dog example above is more of a fantasy (which can be allowed for humor), you will want to put forward ideas that are more logical. For example, what if CEOs were groomed to be CEOs from a young age as soon as they join a corporation? Which is similar to how judges are trained in France.
Hey – what if…everyone read Prime Your Pump?!?!?!
Yes, I am a little self-serving! Too bad, it’s my blog. Ok, on to the next technique which is…
Possibilities and Alternatives
Most conversations trend towards ‘what is’ or ‘what should or should not happen’. This technique involves coming up with possibilities or alternatives that may ultimately be rejected just to make for interesting conversation.
Which makes me wonder – what if students learned by having to teach their teachers or their peers?
The fact that too many people believe that conversation should be focused only on the truth brings us to the next technique which is known as…
Speculation
Or playing around with ideas which can make things more interesting due to the fact that speculation is more interesting than the truth!
For example, how would we react if someone from another planet came to earth and spoke our language? How would they react?
De Bono’s next technique combined the previous two (possibilities and alternatives, and speculation) and combined them into a technique called…
Connections
So, one of the examples he uses is, could there be a connection between the high suicide rate in China and the ‘one child family’ policy?
Which makes me wonder, could there be a connection between people who read of Prime Your Pump and people being more interesting to be around?
The last technique we will cover is based on the thought that new ideas stand out.
Creativity and New Ideas
If you read my recent post on lateral thinking, you will have learned that the main purpose of the brain is to form patterns from incoming information to make our lives easier. This allows us to make decisions quicker by identifying situations and applying the right pattern to them – otherwise, our lives would be complicated and slow. This ability of our brain, however, is the opposite of creativity.
While creativity is a skill and habit, anyone can put out new ideas which make conversations a lot more fresh, and interesting!
Being a more interesting person is something that takes work and practice. One way you can make develop the habit is by getting into the habit of saying…
“Now That is Interesting!”…
…whenever something interesting comes up in a conversation. This will allow you to pause, explore the interesting point and then possibly use one of the techniques we just discussed like opening up possibilities and alternatives or making connections.
This will take a little work on your part as you will need to elaborate on why it is interesting by laying out the interesting aspects and inviting the other person to explore it along with you. But it is well worth the mental effort as you will definitely be a more interesting person!
Ah, That’s Right!
Speaking of interesting, let me finish my story from above. So, I’m flying back from NYC, we are well into Florida and the pilot comes on and says he has a surprise for us…in a little bit.
Wait!
Before I tell you what the surprise was, there are a few details I need to share. It was in the early evening in the summer, so it was still light out, we were flying probably 10 miles inland from the coast – so we could still see it, the visibility was incredible, and we were flying really low – like 10,000 feet.
Okay, the reason I gave you all these details is that the pilot came on 15 minutes later with the surprise. He said ‘if you look out the left side of the plane, and not everyone at once, we are coming up to Cape Canaveral where the Space Shuttle is going to be taking off momentarily.’
Sure enough, less than a minute later we were able to watch the Space Shuttle take off and witness the first minute or so of its journey that day from 10,000 feet up – which to date is one of the more interesting and cool experiences of my life.
In Conclusion, It’s More Than Likely That…
Roses will never stop to smell you, mosquitos will not refuse to bite you out of respect, and you will not have an interesting Space Shuttle Story. However, my hope is that you can use some of the techniques you have learned today to be a more interesting person!
Until next time, stay interesting my friends, and as always…PYMFP!!
–Rick
Use It or Lose It:
Some techniques you can use to be a more interesting person are:
Things, Places and Work
The First Rule
Information
The ‘What-If’ Game
Possibilities and Alternatives
Speculation
Connections
Creativity and New Ideas
Also, don’t forget to use “Now That is Interesting!” in your conversations!
When to Use It:
When you want to be a more interesting person!
What Do You Think?
Do you currently use any of these techniques to be a more interesting person? Will you try some of them? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
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References
De, Bono. E. (2010). How to have a beautiful mind. London: Vermillion.
Set back Rick, grab a tall cool one, because this will be a long response. Reminds me of a party game that I learned from my friend Lisa, who lives in…….Florida. No limit to the number of players, but six to ten usually works best. It’s called “Have You Ever”. The host starts by asking “Have You Ever” and then mentions something they have done/experienced/seen that was interesting. If any of the other players had the same or similar experience, they respond. Then a maybe a 3 to 5 minute discussion of why [whatever] was interesting – what you learned, why it made an impression on you. Questions are allowed from those who didn’t experience that particular thing. Then the person on your right repeats the process, until all have a chance. Beer or wine helps loosen everyone’s tongues.
Some of the things I have done would knock people’s sox off, if they were wearing sox. For example – I have been inside a space shuttle cargo bay (thanks for the nice lead in, by the way), shared drinks with Mario Andretti, seen the Mona Lisa in person, visited Mount St Helens three days after the explosion, commuted to work by boat, ridden in a rumble seat (does anyone else
even know what a rumble seat is?), watched a World Series game from the lower level seats at Yankee Stadium……well, you get the idea. Let’s just say life has been interesting.
You mention the Speculation game, where everything is normal except for one key item. Sort of like the game Any and Sheldon play on Big Bang Theory……What would be the outcome of the Civil War if a piano had been a weapon, not a musical instrument. In real life, speculation has led to such things as Disneyland (Walt Disney thinking – what would the world be like if mice could talk?). I think the key to the Speculation game is imagination.
And thanks for the mention. I’m still learning new things from my world’s fair research. The search for knowledge never ends. See Wooden rule 67.
Hi Dave, That sound like an awesome game and a GREAT way to stimulate interesting conversation! You definitely have done some interesting things in your life, wow! I think it is awesome that you have such a cool and interesting hobby, gotta keep learning as Coach Wooden says! Thanks and take care, Rick